Rotala rotundifolia – Pink Baby Tear

Rotala rotundifolia

Rotala rotundifolia is a popular aquarium plant of the rotala genus and loosestrife family, which it shares with other well known aquatic plants. Its Latin name Rotundifolia literally means round leaves. Rotundifolia is commonly mistaken for Rotala indica, another popular aquatic plant. It is also known as:

Rotala Rotundifolia is a stem plant that thrives in wet, marshy, and aquatic environments and is a staple of aquaculture projects. The wild variety is found semi-immersed as a vigorous growing weed of rice paddies across southern Asia including China and Taiwan and can even be found in southern Europe. Use in aquascaping has led to it being introduced in the US, wherein in some regions, it has an invasive character.

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The plant consists of long stems with round or narrow elongated leaves which may carry a characteristic and desirable red hue. Leaves are round if grown above the waterline, otherwise, rotundifolia produces long triangular leaves with a star-shaped top. Its colour ranges typically from green to a deep pink-red.

Key Features:

• Common Name: Rotla rotundiflia
• Other Names: The dwarf rotala, Round-leaf tooth cup, Pink sprites
• Scientific Name: Rotla rotundiflia
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium
• Lighting: Medium to High
• Optimal pH: 6.0 8.0
• Optimal GH: 2 12 (1 30)
• Optimal Temperature: 20 28 C (68 82 F)
• Substrate: Needed
• Growth Form: Stem
• Growth Rate: Moderate to fast
• Placement: in Tank
• Height: up 5 30+ cm (2 12+ inches)
• Fertilizers: Not needed to low
• CO2: Not needed to low
• Propagation: Head Cuttings or Runners

Propagation:

• Cut a couple of inches off the top of the plant and replant. New shoots will sprout from the inter-nodes on the stem left behind. If the initial plant was healthy, you can cut off the majority of the plant, leaving stems a couple of inches in height and new shoots will still sprout from there.
• Even if you want a dense bush, plant stems at least half an inch apart to leave room for side-shoots. There should be enough space in the bottom layers even if you want a dense canopy at the higher levels.

Trimming:

• Rotala rotundifolia takes trimming well and will form dense bushes. It can be repeatedly trimmed for many cycles before requiring the replanting of healthier/new tops. This makes it very useful for aquascaping where the ridgeline needs to be kept at a certain height for aquascaping purposes.
• Trimming should be done initially about 4 inches below the final height that you want your Rotala rotundifolia tops to be at. (unless you have planted your Rotala rotundifolia very sparsely to start with, then trimming further down allows more branching and density to build up) As the tops grow out, cut off the ones that grow faster than the rest – this allows the shoots below to branch and the canopy to gain density as it grows upwards.
• After the canopy has been formed at the desired height, you should continually thin it by cutting off the tallest shoots and allowing new growth to take its place. This needs to be done very regularly (every 3 days or so). If the canopy rises as a whole after a long period of lack of trimming, then you have to do a reset as above; cutting the bush down much lower and growing out the tops again. As with carpets – if you want to maintain it long term, it requires very frequent trimming. Growing the tank under lean conditions also slows down plant growth as a whole and reduces pruning.

Note:

We cant ship Livestock and Live Plants to WA and TAS due to State Restrictions.Kindly check out our DOA and other policies before purchase!!

Other things to consider before placing an order:

• Check to see if your tank has enough space.
• Ensure your tank is fully cycled.
• Ensure your newlivestockis compatible tank mates for any other fish you currently have (in terms of habitat, species, requirements, temperament, and size)
• Ensure that your water parameters, habitat, and temperature are suitable for the species you want to introduce.
• Do not stock your tank too quickly, or suddenly a large influx of fish can unbalance your water parameters, affecting the water quality.
• Do not feed your new fish for 24hrs. They need time to settle in and feel at home. Feeding them too quickly puts their health at risk, and it can even affect your water quality. If you have existing fish in your aquarium, feeding them before releasing the new fish is a good idea.
• Dont be alarmed if, upon arrival, your fish, shrimp, or snail look pale or lethargic. This is normal behaviour while in transit, and they should return to full colour and vibrancy after settling into their new home for a few days.

Be Aware

Also, be aware that livestock often gets stress and lose their colours after the long travel to you, this often happened to most livestock ( shrimps, guppies, plecos, and so on, kindly make sure you have the right set up, the aquarium must be fully cycled with the ideal parameters. Fishes and shrimps will often take from 3-7 days to fully adapt to the new home. If you have any concerns with your setup, kindly talk to us or check out some online tutorials before purchase.

Micro Aquatic Shop

At Micro Aquatic shop, we strive to provide excellent service and high-quality products, any concerns kindly contact us asap, and often we will get back to you in a few hours during working hours. We do not accept claims when the livestock entered your aquarium as there might be so many factors that can affect the wellbeing of the livestock, on our part we can guarantee that we are always sending out healthy and quality fish, plants, and shrimps to you.

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